The Launch Day

August unpacked the Bronze Gaming VR Helmet package. It took him around one minute to finally have the helmet out of the box package. 

It was bronze in color, it looked like a ski-helmet with a lid on it. The lid was gray, semi-see-through. There was a button on the right side of the helmet that had the words 'Play' on it. 

He also saw a paper lying in the box, he took it and just glanced at it.

[ASCENSION° Guide 101]

[To start your game, click on the button on the right side of the helmet. On the button there is a word spelled 'Play'...]

[You can only have one active character for every person, you can't hack, buy a second one, it's full-proof. You can delete your character, but it has a cooldown of 30 days....]

[If you die in the game, you will lose access to play for 2 days or 48 hours. You will also lose one level and some items in your inventory...]

He already knows the basics for ASCENSION°, so he laid it on his computer desk.

August looked at his Bronze Gaming VR Helmet, he realized that he gotta buy a better version of the VR Helmets, because the Bronze version is gonna minimize his skills ingame.

There are many different versions of Gaming VR Helmets. Starting from Bronze, Silver, Gold, Emerald and Diamond.

Bronze Gaming VR Helmet is the cheapest helmet of them all. It has a connection of 55% synchronization ingame. You will feel a slight delay in your thoughts and movements though.

This is the list for the grades and their synchronizations rate:

Bronze Grade

(55% connection)

Silver Grade

(65% connection)

Gold Grade

(75% connection)

Emerald Grade

(85% connection)

Diamond Grade

(98% connection)

The Silver and Gold versions are most commonly bought and used by mid-high class families/people. Meanwhile, Emerald and Diamond versions are owned by high-class families/people, in this current time. Their production rate was low in the first week, because of the insanely high demand versus supplies, but later more people got their hands on Emerald and sometimes even Diamond versions. 

DING!

August heard a notification coming from his phone, that made him turn his head to his phone. He clicked on the power button and saw a message coming from his best friend, John Becker; He also checked the time [11.26 AM].

[Jonne: Yo, have you heard of a new game called ASCENSION° Online?! It's gonna launch today in the afternoon]

[Me: Yeah, I have seen it all over the web]

[Jonne: It's the first ever VRMMORPG, I remember dreaming of playing one after watching those anime!]

[Jonne: But either way, are you down to play together with the rest of our buddies]

[Me: Yeah, I'm down. But I will first grind solo.]

[Jonne: Alright, but contact me when you want to play.]

[Jonne: Join our chat group first though. WqFiChj/Miscord.com I already notified them of your arrival]

August clicked on the invite link to the chat group, then a new chat room appeared on his Miscord App. 

[Miscord App]

[The Boys - Chat Group]

[@August1 has the joined the the chat group]

[JackTheWeebLover: Heyyy August!]

[EricKing: Sup.]

[JonneJonne: Yo, welcome to the chat group August.]

[August1: Thanks, but I gotta eat now. My parents will scold me.]

[JackTheWeebLover: Alright mate, but message us when you want to play! Because we will be partying up and grinding the game till midnight! Hahaha!]

[EricKing: I agree.]

[JonneJonne: Yeah, just message us.]

[August1: Okay, then goodbye]

August closed his phone and opened his door, he went downstairs to the dining room. 

He saw his parents and his little sister already dining at the table with food. 

"I'm here!"

"Come and help me with the food, August." asked his mom.

"Okay" August walked towards his mother and helped her with the food.

Less than half an hour later, the family of four happily ate their lunch.

"August." August's father said.

"Hmm? What is it dad."

"Have you heard of the game ASCENSION° Online?"

"Yep, I'm gonna play it when it launches this afternoon."

"Okay, but remember you have to logout once in a while."

"I know dad.."

August's father was a little stunned hearing his son agree to his words for the first time in a while, but he still nodded his and inwardly was happy for this change.

They later talked about different topics like life, the future, etc. After lunch, everyone went to do their things. August checked the clock;

 [2.02 PM]

At 3 PM, all the servers in the game will finally be officially launched in the major continents such North/South America, Europe, Oceanian, Asia. 

August decided to take it easy before the launch. He went to the living room and laid his body on the couch, he grabbed a TV remote and tapped on a red button. The TV in front of him turned on and displayed the news channel; Daily British News.

A middle-aged woman who appeared to be in her late 30's. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. 

And as expected, they talk about ASCENSION°, which is the hottest topic around the globe.

[This is a major turning point for gaming in general, so today we have the CEO for Cortex Company, the main creator of ASCENSION° Online, Felix Pentex.]

A man who looked to be around his mid 20's. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, he was handsome to say the least, if you ignore the dark circles under his eyes.

[Felix Pentex: Thank you, we appreciate the support and investment our fans have given us during the years of development.]

[Felix Pentex: We hope you will like our world, everything is made to real, to a degree when you can't even differentiate between real life and the game.]

[I have a few questions in hand, highly requested by your fans, would you like to answer them]

[Felix Pentex: Definitely]

[First question: Is there an anti-cheat system?]

[Felix Pentex: Yes, you could say it that way, but it's still impossible to cheat, even if bugs don't exist. I could bet my entire fortune on it...]

[Th-hat's a big promise..] stuttered the news reporter

[Felix Pentex: I know] Felix simply smiled back.

"What a weird man!" yelled a femine voice behind August, which startled him for a bit.

He recognized the voice and turned around, seeing his little sister calling one of the creators of the world-changing game 'weird', he was in disbelief!

"Why are you calling him weird?!" 

"Hmm, why would someone bet his entire fortune on a game with no cheats!"

'But he is right, after years no one could ever hack into the game..'

'I wished I could tell my family about my time travel thing, but it will only bring more worry and trouble for them..' 

"Maybe he is right.." answered August after a moment of silence with a smug looking smile.

"Hmm, maybe.. But I gotta study, cya bro!"

"Yeah, cya lil sis."

He went back watching the interview, but got bored quickly because he already knows the game inside and out.

...

...

...

[2.57 PM]

"Hmm.. It's about time!"

After waiting around 50 minutes of watching the interview and afterward some videos on WeTube, the game is finally launching in four minutes.

He got up from the couch, stretched his back and legs a bit. He walked upstairs and went straight to his room. He opened it and went inside the room.

The moment he entered the room, he laid his eyes on the helmet lying on his bed. 

He walked to his bed and grabbed hold of the helmet. Afterward he laid his body on the bed and put the helmet on his head and slid the helmet's lid down, then he clicked on a button on his right side.

[Scanning...] 

A text appeared on his lid, it was like seeing the 'old' VR Headsets. [AN; 'old' for this novel, not real life..] The helmet was scanning his body from toe to head, pretty futuristic. It also scanned his brainwaves, DNA and mental condition.

[Scan Complete...]

[You have created your character, only you can login in your account. No passwords or usernames are needed.]

[00.00.01.20 'Minutes' before Launch]

After waiting one minute and two seconds. Two words appeared on the lid-like screen.

[Play] [Leave]

The moment the words [Play] and [Leave] appeared. He immediately said "Play"! As it responded to his command, another text of words appeared.

[Transferring consciousness to the game...]

Slowly but surely his consciousness faded away, he seemed dead except for his slow breathing.

August vision was transported into a pitch-black space, but for some reason he could still see everything like in the daylight, including his body wearing a new set of leather clothes.

"|| Choose your appearance ||"

> Hair Color: <○>

> Eye Color: <○>

Configuring your appearance can protect your face and privacy coupled with other things.

August chose his hair color remaining 'dark brown', while he chose his eyes color 'gold'. The same appearance as his previous one except instead of gold eye color it was ocean-blue.

"Confirm"

"|| In Queue... ||"

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